NBA Live 2001
Score: 79% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Canada Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 2 (2 - 8 Multitap) Genre: Sports (Basketball)
Graphics & Sound: The graphics for NBA Live 2001 are basically the same from the year previous. Not that that's bad, but nothing really improved graphics wise. My guess would be that they were busy worrying about some other system... hmmm, PlayStation 2?!! I'm not kidding either, I think they basically copied last year's version, and updated a couple things here and there. The announcers were another part I could have done without. The play-by-play kept up, but they were so dry. It was almost like listening to John Madden (which is a bad thing to my ears). But I will give the music and sound effects a good rating, although there isn't much else you can do with those two.
Gameplay: Like I just said, I really think that EA Sports didn't put much effort into the making of NBA Live 2001. My prime example in all of this is BECAUSE... the rosters are nowhere near correct at all for this NBA season. They were in such a rush to get this game out, that the rosters were updated as of September 1st... meaning no rookies, no Ewing-Rice trade, nothing!!! This is a big no-no with me, because I care deeply about having the most up-to-date rosters available. All the other modes are back too, including Exhibition, Season, Championship, Three-Point Shoot-out, and Practice. Yes, the decade teams are there, along with the One-on-One with MJ and whomever else you want to play against. Oh yeah, they also took away the halftime shows (i.e. the cheerleaders). What the hell is wrong with you EA???
Difficulty: The difficulty varies from the level that you put it at, just like previous years. I found that the games are much easier to play than when you are going up against the so-called "Greatest Basketball Player Ever," otherwise known as Michael Jordan. It also comes down to which rules you leave on or off.
Game Mechanics: Like last year, the big problem I found with NBA Live 2001, is that it was slow; loading wise, and the transition shots between the free throws and the regular camera angles. And your memory card will be filled up after you save a full season, because all 15 blocks will be used. One thing that has been added is the Total-Control Low Post moves, much like the Total Control Passing and stuff. What I think results in all of this is that there are way too many buttons to figure out what do what. I've always loved the NBA Live series, but I really was disappointed with this year's. My true theory is that EA Sports was so worried about PS2, that they completely forgot that they needed to put a game together for PlayStation One.
-Red Dawg, GameVortex Communications AKA Alex Redmann
Knockout Kings 2001 NHL 2001